Overused, Misused Nano Becoming Pervasive Prefix

from the welcome-to-nanodirt... dept

A topic that we've discussed a few times before, but which the press is finally realizing (though, they'll ignore it in the very next article about some "nanotechnology" company) is the fact that the "nano" prefix is being constantly misused. Companies everywhere are suddenly including the term "nano" in their company or product names, even if the products have little to do with real nanotechnology. At best, they're usually just dealing with chemistry. At worst, they're not even close to nanotechnology. However, these companies (or, at least, their marketing departments) think that it makes them seem more cutting edge, and in some cases it's working.

Remember "i" and "e" ".com"

Reminds me of the late '90s. Every company being funded - and even a few established ones - started adding "e" or "i" or ".com" to their names and went public, or saw their stock go through the roof - even if the business had nothing or little to do with the internet.

This will be a trend as long as both the government and VCs advertise that they are funding "nanotech".